Kelly

Overview

Green rock in the Magdalena Mountains

Kelly lies in a gulch on the west side of the Magdalena Mountains, 2.5 to 3 miles south of the village of Magdalena (sources differ). Lead was found here in 1866, and the camp that grew around the Graphic and Kelly mines took the name of a claim holder named Kelley, misspelled, as the story goes, by a county clerk. Sources disagree on his first name: Andy or Patrick. A post office opened in 1883, and a railroad spur reached Magdalena in 1885 to carry the ore.

Kelly's second life came from the waste. Around 1900 the greenish rock in the old tailings was recognized as smithsonite, a zinc carbonate prized for paint. In 1904 Sherwin-Williams bought the Graphic and Tri-Bullion bought the Kelly, and in 1906 a steel headframe 121 feet high went up over the Kelly's main shaft. More than $21 million in zinc came out between 1904 and 1928, and the town reached close to 3,000 people. It had banks, saloons, churches, hotels and stores along Evans Avenue, and burned twice, in 1889 and 1915.

The zinc ran out by about 1931. The post office closed in 1945, the last residents left in 1947, and many houses were hauled down to Magdalena. Today the church of St. John the Baptist is the only building still standing. Descendants of families buried in the cemetery above it still gather there, and the Tafoya family, whose men worked the mines, hosts a fiesta each June. The headframe still stands over the mine.

Timeline

Lead, then zinc

1. 1866J. S. Hutchason finds lead ore in the Magdalena Mountains and stakes the Juanita and Graphic mines. A Kelley stakes a claim nearby: the Socorro County Historical Society calls him Andy, HistoryNet and New Mexico True call him Patrick.
2. 1870sHutchason takes over Kelley's claim after a missed assessment and later sells the Graphic and the Kelly. Gustav Billing buys the Kelly for $40,000.
3. 1879–1882The camp is registered in Socorro County in 1879, named for Kelley; a clerk's error drops the second e. The Mining History Association says it was first called Middle Camp and became Kelly in 1882.
4. 1883A post office opens.
5. 1885A railroad spur reaches the new town of Magdalena, about three miles away.
6. 1889Fire destroys much of the town north of Evans Avenue.
7. About 1900Smithsonite, a zinc carbonate, is recognized in the old tailings, and Kelly becomes the state's leading zinc producer. Its population nears 3,000.
8. 1904Sherwin-Williams buys the Graphic mine, and the Tri-Bullion Smelting company the Kelly.
9. 1906The 121-foot steel headframe goes up over the mine's main shaft, which New Mexico True calls the Tri-Bullion shaft and the Socorro County Historical Society the Traylor shaft.
10. 1904–1928More than $21 million in zinc is mined.
11. 1915Fire destroys many buildings on the south side of Evans Avenue.
12. 1931Most of the smithsonite has been mined out.
13. 1945–1947The post office closes in 1945, and the last residents leave in 1947. Many houses are moved to Magdalena.
14. Early 1950sThe Kelly Mine's machinery is sold and removed and most of its structures taken down.

On the ground

A church, a cemetery and a headframe

The Mining History Association's tour of June 11, 2023, gathered at the church of St. John the Baptist and then split between the mine and the townsite. On the townsite it found the stone steps of the H. A. Robinson General Store of about 1885, the stone and adobe walls of the Clark Hotel of about the same date, and the foundation of a restaurant from the World War I boom on Evans Avenue. The cemetery lies uphill from the church along Clark Street, partly fenced. At the mine the tour saw the mill, the Traylor shaft and the dump of the Paschal shaft above them. New Mexico True says the 1906 headframe still stands 121 feet over the Tri-Bullion shaft, which drops nearly 1,000 feet into some 30 miles of closed tunnels. The Socorro County Historical Society calls the shaft under the headframe the Traylor shaft, about 1,100 feet deep, and says the shafts and tunnels are closed and sealed. The photos here show the headframe beside a tall timber ore bin in April 2025.

The historic maps below show the camp shrinking to a name. The 1954 Socorro sheet marks Kelly south of Magdalena with a smelter, mine symbols and the Cibola National Forest beyond. The 1979 Magdalena sheet places it below North Peak, with Magdalena Peak to the west. The 1985 and 1995 large-scale sheets show Kelly in its gulch with mines, tailings and jeep trails on the slopes around it; the 1995 sheet marks the cemetery just north of the town and the national forest boundary to the east.

• St. John the Baptist church, still used for occasional services and a June fiesta
• Kelly Cemetery, uphill from the church
• The 1906 steel headframe over the Tri-Bullion shaft
• Mill ruins, ore bin and mine dumps
• Store steps, hotel walls and foundations along Evans Avenue

Historic maps

Kelly on USGS maps, 1954–1995

Crops from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, centered on the townsite. Each sheet shows what surveyors mapped that year; compare them with today's topo and aerial on this page.

19541:250,00019791:100,00019851:24,00019951:24,000

Map & directions

Getting there

Kelly is about 4 miles from Magdalena, on Kelly Road south from US 60. New Mexico True warns that directions to Kelly are sketchy and suggests asking locally. Both routes end on Kelly Road at the townsite. Much of the land is private: stay on the road unless you have permission.

Base map: USGS The National Map (public domain). Routes: OSRM on © OpenStreetMap contributors data (ODbL), computed October 2026. Times assume dry roads.

Photos

Kelly in photos

The headframe and a timber ore bin, April 2025The headframe and a tall tower on the hillside, July 2005The townsite in late summer bloom, September 2010

Visitor reports

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Nearby

Other sites near Kelly

Straight-line distance from the townsite to other mapped sites in our New Mexico index.

• Magdalena3.3 mi NW · Socorro
• Riley20.5 mi N · Socorro
• San Antonio22.3 mi SE · Socorro
• San Marcial29.3 mi SE · Socorro
• Canta Recio37.0 mi S · Socorro
• Monticeiio49.7 mi S · Sierra
• Adobe Ranch53.6 mi E · Socorro
• Greensgap53.9 mi W · Catron

Sources

Sources and credits

1. Socorro County Historical Society, "Kelly", undated, read October 2026: Hutchason and Kelley, the 1879 registration and misspelling, the Graphic mill, the 1904 sales, over 2,000 and nearly 3,000 people, the early-1950s removal, the Tafoya family, private property.
2. Socorro County Historical Society, "Kelly Mine", undated, read October 29, 2026: the Traylor shaft under the headframe, about 1,100 feet deep and sealed, private property with owners tolerant of visitors, no climbing or removing anything, the vandalized safety net.
3. Les Kruger, "Ghost Town: Kelly, New Mexico", HistoryNet, March 1, 2017 (from Wild West, August 2014): the 1870s claims, Billing, the 1883 post office, the 1885 spur, smithsonite, the 1904 sales, 1931, the 1945 post office closing, close to 3,000 people, the church, the headframe, the free pass and the shaft warning.
4. Mining History Association, "Kelly Mine and VLA Tour", June 11, 2023: the church, the mill, the Traylor shaft and the Paschal dump.
5. Mining History Association, Kelly tour gallery 3, June 11, 2023: Middle Camp and 1882, the 1889 and 1915 fires, the store steps, hotel walls and restaurant foundation, the church and cemetery.
6. New Mexico True, "Kelly", read October 2026: Patrick H. Kelley, 1884 businesses, the 1906 headframe of 121 feet over the Tri-Bullion shaft, the closed tunnels, 1947, houses moved to Magdalena, ask locally for directions.
7. Wikipedia, "Magdalena, New Mexico", retrieved October 2026: Kelly about 2.5 miles south of Magdalena, lead, silver, zinc and smithsonite, nearly 3,000 people, the last residents in 1947, the church.
8. ghosttowns.com, "Kelly", read October 2026: fact sheet, post office 1883 to 1945, $21 million in zinc from 1904 to 1928, the visitor's pass.
9. USGS GNIS, "Kelly" (feature 907521): coordinates, as carried in OpenStreetMap.
10. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, credited below each one. Elevation: USGS 3D Elevation Program point query. Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 2026. Not field-checked.

Photo and map credits

• The headframe and a timber ore bin, April 2025: Forssa01, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
• The headframe and a tall tower on the hillside, July 2005: Jerry Willis from Tomé, NM, United States of America, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
• The townsite in late summer bloom, September 2010: Larry Lamsa, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
• Area base map, topo and aerial imagery: USGS The National Map (public domain).
• Historic maps: USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection (public domain): Socorro 1954, 1:250,000; Magdalena 1979, 1:100,000; Magdalena 1985, 1:24,000; Magdalena 1995, 1:24,000.